Reviews

In response to the members who say they're 14 & 16 respectively and STILL watch the show, I'm 35 and I love it as well. Probably makes a real saddo.

I normally get home from work about 4.30 in the afternoon just as this is starting and after a lousy day at work, it's nice to have something ridiculous to laugh at before I switch over to BBC2 and endure the (frequently) humiliating misery that is 'The Weakest Link'.

I don't watch a huge amount of TV but this is compulsive viewing and I recommend it to anybody, irrespective of age. The cast are great, the story lines are always funny and all 5 of the main characters are believable, likable individuals.

Long may this show continue.

Although the idea behind this movie is not particularly original, it still has merit - it's a tried and trusted formula which can work well if done correctly.

Unfortunately, it doesn't really succeed this time around. The cast tries hard and they all give creditable performances. The directing is competent enough with the action moving up or down in pace at a reasonable level that doesn't throw the storyline around in an unbelievable fashion. The flashbacks are handled well, bringing everything together in a tidy, coherent fashion.

But ultimately, the movie fails to really hold the viewer's interest and it makes the cardinal sin in a movie of this type; it fails to produce characters with whom we, the viewers, can identify. Each of the characters is just a little too perfect.

However, it's worth watching the first 15 minutes simply for the joke about the Irish guys ;-)

I was chatting to an Aussie friend who mentioned this movie to me. He was so enthusiastic about it that I went out and hired it and I was glad I did.

First off, it's a Richard Linklater concept and I love his movies. Sure, there's always some pretentiousness in his work but I still feel that in all his projects to date, he's accurately captured REAL people on film, expressing ideas, displaying emotions, revealing facets of the human condition to which we can all relate in some way, no matter what our backgrounds, ideologies etc.

Second was the manner in which the movie was presented. It was originally shot on digital video and then 90% of it was rotoscoped (a technique of which I'm not usually a big fan), creating a stunning visual effect that really brings the dreaming aspect of the movie to life in a spectacular way. The other 10% of the movie has actually been replaced by standard animation (see the 'ant/zombie autopilot' scene as an example) which seems odd to me but maybe there's something I missed in this that's supposed to add something. Not sure. In addition to this, you have brief animated flashes used to convey particular ideas/events/images. It works really well.

The movie at its most base is a series of vignettes loosely linked by the dreamworld explorations of a teenage boy, trying to make sense of the world in which he finds himself. He dreams, he wakes up, he wanders around and listens to fascinating (though not necessarily insightful) philosophical discussions about the nature of reality before discovering that he's still dreaming.

Despite the ludicrous high-falutin' talk of some characters and the arty-farty subject matter that will deter many people, I recommend this movie to everybody. If you're the sort of person who likes to think on 'the big issues' then this movie will provide stimulation for the brain, even if there's nothing new for you. If you're the sort of person who appreciates a good idea, this movie will provide a new twist on the 'talking heads' genre. If you simply want to relax, just look at the funky images and absorb the atmosphere - you can ignore the dialogue ;-)

Although I felt the ending was ultimately weak (Linklater builds us up to a revelation and then fails to deliver) I still think this is his finest work to date and can easily forgive him this as the subject matter is such that the revelation should be an intensely personal thing anyway (although it would have been nice to see his view).

I shall definitely be adding this to my collection at some point in the near future and urge anybody/everybody with the slightest ounce of spiritual curiousity to do the same.

This movie's not bad, featuring a reasonable performance from all cast members, a strong basic idea and a fairly good follow-through on the plot with a nice twist about halfway through.

Despite all this, anybody who's familiar with Hollywood movies will guess the ending 25 minutes into the movie.

Overall it deserves 7/10.

As one of the world's GREAT Science-Fiction fans, I've always felt a little disappointed at the fact that I couldn't see what everybody else apparently saw in the 'Star Wars' movies.

Yes, I understood the references. Yes, I loved the concept of the 'Space Samurai' (Jedi). Yes, I accepted that from an objective, cinematic point of view, they were good movies. But subjectively, I wasn't really into them...they were just a way to fill up a couple of hours of dead time.

'Attack of the Clones' is different. In this movie Lucas has finally managed to entice me into his universe. With a script that pokes fun at itself throughout the movie, well-rounded characters, superb visual effects (with one 2-second exception of which Lucas should be ashamed), creditable performances from the entire cast and a strong storyline that moves the action along in an intelligent manner, this movie is destined to be a HUGE blockbuster and should serve as a good example to anybody of how to construct a Science Fiction movie.

Cinematically, this is a good movie. In my personal opinion, it's a GREAT movie.